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March 31
It is the last day of the first quarter of the year. Events * 307 – After divorcing his wife Minervina, Constantine marries Fausta, daughter of the retired Roman Emperor Maximian. *1146 – Bernard of Clairvaux preaches his famous sermon in a field at Vézelay, urging the necessity of a Second Crusade. Louis VII is present, and joins the Crusade. *1492 – Queen Isabella of Castile issues the Alhambra Decree, ordering her 150,000 Jewish and Muslim subjects to convert to Christianity or face expulsion. *1561 – The city of San Cristóbal, Táchira is founded. *1717 – A sermon on "The Nature of the Kingdom of Christ" by Benjamin Hoadly, the Bishop of Bangor, preached in the presence of King George I of Great Britain, provokes the Bangorian Controversy. *1774 – American Revolutionary War: The Kingdom of Great Britain orders the port of Boston, Massachusetts closed pursuant to the Boston Port Act. *1822 – The massacre of the population of the Greek island of Chios by soldiers of the Ottoman Empire following an attempted rebellion, depicted by the French artist Eugène Delacroix. *1854 – Commodore Matthew Perry signs the Convention of Kanagawa with the Tokugawa Shogunate, opening the ports of Shimoda and Hakodate to American trade. *1885 – The United Kingdom establishes the Bechuanaland Protectorate. *1889 – The Eiffel Tower is officially opened. * 1899 – Malolos, capital of the First Philippine Republic, is captured by American forces. *1906 – The Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States (later the National Collegiate Athletic Association) is established to set rules for college sports in the United States. *1909 – Serbia accepts Austrian control over Bosnia and Herzegovina. *1913 – The Vienna Concert Society rioted during a performance of modernist music by Arnold Schoenberg, Alban Berg, Alexander von Zemlinsky, and Anton von Webern, causing a premature end to the concert due to violence; this concert became known as the Skandalkonzert. *1917 – The United States takes possession of the Danish West Indies after paying $25 million to Denmark, and renames the territory the United States Virgin Islands. *1918 – Massacre of ethnic Azerbaijanis is committed by allied armed groups of Armenian Revolutionary Federation and Bolsheviks. Nearly 12,000 Azerbaijani Muslims are killed. * 1918 – Daylight saving time goes into effect in the United States for the first time. *1921 – The Royal Australian Air Force is formed. *1930 – The Motion Picture Production Code is instituted, imposing strict guidelines on the treatment of sex, crime, religion and violence in film, in the U.S., for the next thirty-eight years. *1931 – An earthquake in Nicaragua destroys Managua; killing 2,000. * 1931 – A Transcontinental & Western Air airliner crashes near Bazaar, Kansas, killing eight, including University of Notre Dame head football coach Knute Rockne. *1933 – The Civilian Conservation Corps is established with the mission of relieving rampant unemployment in the United States. *1942 – World War II: Japanese forces invade Christmas Island, then a British possession. *1945 – World War II: A defecting German pilot delivers a Messerschmitt Me 262A-1, the world's first operational jet-powered fighter aircraft, to the Americans, the first to fall into Allied hands. *1949 – The Dominion of Newfoundland joins the Canadian Confederation and becomes the 10th Province of Canada. *1951 – Remington Rand delivers the first UNIVAC I computer to the United States Census Bureau. *1957 – Elections to the Territorial Assembly of the French colony Upper Volta are held. After the elections PDU and MDV form a government. *1958 – In the Canadian federal election, the Progressive Conservatives, led by John Diefenbaker, win the largest percentage of seats in Canadian history, with 208 seats of 265. *1959 – The 14th Dalai Lama, crosses the border into India and is granted political asylum. *1964 – Brazilian General Olímpio Mourão Filho orders his troops to move towards Rio de Janeiro, beginning the coup d'état. *1966 – The Soviet Union launches Luna 10 which later becomes the first space probe to enter orbit around the Moon. *1968 – American President Lyndon B. Johnson speaks to the nation of "Steps to Limit the War in Vietnam" in a television address. At the conclusion of his speech, he announces: "I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your President." *1970 – Explorer 1 re-enters the Earth's atmosphere after 12 years in orbit. *1980 – The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad operates its final train after being ordered to liquidate its assets because of bankruptcy and debts owed to creditors. *1985 – The first WrestleMania, the biggest wrestling event from the WWE (then the WWF), takes place in Madison Square Garden in New York City. *1990 – Approximately 200,000 protesters take to the streets of London to protest against the newly introduced Poll Tax. *1991 – 1991 Georgian independence referendum: Nearly 99 percent of the voters support the country's independence from the Soviet Union. *1992 – The , the last active United States Navy battleship, is decommissioned in Long Beach, California. *1992 – The Treaty of Federation is signed in Moscow. *1995 – TAROM Flight 371, an Airbus A310-300, crashes near Balotesti, Romania, killing all 60 people on board. *1995 – Selena is murdered by her fan club's president Yolanda Saldívar at a Days Inn in Corpus Christi, Texas after accusations of Saldívar embezzling money from Selena's fan club. *1998 – Netscape releases Mozilla source code under an open source license. *2004 – Iraq War in Anbar Province: In Fallujah, Iraq, four American private military contractors working for Blackwater USA, are killed after being ambushed. * 2018 – Start of the 2018 Armenian revolution Births *1360 – Philippa of Lancaster (d. 1415) *1499 – Pope Pius IV (d. 1565) *1504 – Guru Angad, Indian religious leader (d. 1552) *1519 – Henry II of France (d. 1559) *1536 – Ashikaga Yoshiteru, Japanese shōgun (d. 1565) *1596 – René Descartes, French mathematician and philosopher (d. 1650) *1601 – Jakov Mikalja, Italian linguist and lexicographer (d. 1654) *1621 – Andrew Marvell, English poet and politician (d. 1678) *1651 – Charles II, Elector Palatine, German husband of Princess Wilhelmine Ernestine of Denmark (d. 1685) *1675 – Pope Benedict XIV (d. 1758) *1685 – Johann Sebastian Bach, German organist and composer (d. 1750) *1718 – Mariana Victoria of Spain (d. 1781) *1723 – Frederick V of Denmark (d. 1766) *1730 – Étienne Bézout, French mathematician and theorist (d. 1783) *1732 – Joseph Haydn, Austrian pianist and composer (d. 1809) *1740 – Panoutsos Notaras, Greek politician (d. 1849) *1747 – Johann Abraham Peter Schulz, German pianist and composer (d. 1800) *1777 – Charles Cagniard de la Tour, French physicist and engineer (d. 1859) *1778 – Coenraad Jacob Temminck, Dutch zoologist and ornithologist (d. 1858) *1794 – Thomas McKean Thompson McKennan, American lawyer and politician, 2nd United States Secretary of the Interior (d. 1852) *1809 – Edward FitzGerald, English poet and translator (d. 1883) * 1809 – Nikolai Gogol, Ukrainian-Russian short story writer, novelist, and playwright (d. 1852) * 1809 – Otto Lindblad, Swedish composer (d. 1864) *1813 – Félix María Zuloaga, Mexican general and unconstitutional interim president (1858 and 1860-1862) (d. 1898) *1819 – Chlodwig, Prince of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst (d. 1901) *1823 – Mary Boykin Chesnut, American author (d. 1886) *1833 – Mary Abigail Dodge, American writer and essayist (d. 1896) *1835 – John La Farge, American artist (d. 1910) *1847 – Hermann de Pourtalès, Swiss sailor (d. 1904) * 1847 – Yegor Ivanovich Zolotarev, Russian mathematician and theorist (d. 1878) *1851 – Francis Bell, Jewish New Zealand lawyer and politician, 20th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1936) *1855 – Alfred E. Hunt, American businessman (d. 1899) *1859 – Emil Fenyvessy, Hungarian actor and screenwriter (d. 1924) *1865 – Anandi Gopal Joshi, Indian physician (d. 1887) *1871 – Arthur Griffith, Irish journalist and politician, 3rd President of Dáil Éireann (d. 1922) *1872 – Sergei Diaghilev, Russian ballet manager and critic, founded the Ballets Russes (d. 1929) *1874 – Benjamín G. Hill, Mexican revolutionary general, governor of Sonora (d. 1920) * 1874 – Henri Marteau, French violinist and composer (d. 1934) *1876 – Borisav Stanković, Serbian author (d. 1927) *1878 – Jack Johnson, American boxer (d. 1946) *1884 – Adriaan van Maanen, Dutch-American astronomer and academic (d. 1946) *1885 – Pascin, Sephardi Jewish Bulgarian-American painter and illustrator (d. 1930) *1890 – Ben Adams, American jumper (d. 1961) * 1890 – William Lawrence Bragg, Australian-English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1971) *1891 – Victor Varconi, Hungarian-American actor and director (d. 1976) *1893 – Clemens Krauss, Austrian conductor and manager (d. 1954) * 1893 – Herbert Meinhard Mühlpfordt, German physician and historian (d. 1982) *1895 – Vardis Fisher, American author and academic (d. 1968) *1900 – Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester (d. 1974) *1905 – Robert Stevenson, English director and screenwriter (d. 1986) * 1905 – George Treweek, Australian rugby league player (d. 1991) *1906 – Sin-Itiro Tomonaga, Japanese physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1979) *1908 – Red Norvo, American vibraphone player and composer (d. 1999) *1911 – Freddie Green, American guitarist (d. 1987) * 1911 – Elisabeth Grümmer, German soprano (d. 1986) *1912 – William Lederer, American soldier and author (d. 2009) *1913 – Etta Baker, African-American singer and guitarist (d. 2006) *1914 – Octavio Paz, Mexican poet and diplomat, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1998) * 1914 – Dagmar Lange, Swedish author (d. 1991) *1915 – Albert Hourani, English historian and author (d. 1993) * 1915 – Shoichi Yokoi, Japanese sergeant (d. 1997) *1916 – Lucille Bliss, American voice actress (d. 2012) * 1916 – Tommy Bolt, American golfer (d. 2008) * 1916 – John H. Wood, Jr., American lawyer and judge (d. 1979) *1917 – Dorothy DeLay, American violinist and educator (d. 2002) *1918 – Ted Post, American director (d. 2013) *1919 – Frank Akins, American football player (d. 1993) *1920 – Deborah Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire, British aristocrat, socialite and author (d. 2014) *1921 – Lowell Fulson, African-American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1999) * 1921 – Peggy Rea, American actress and casting director (d. 2011) *1922 – Richard Kiley, American actor and singer (d. 1999) * 1922 – Patrick Magee, Irish actor (d. 1982) *1923 – François Sermon, Belgian footballer (d. 2013) *1924 – Leo Buscaglia, American author and academic (d. 1998) * 1924 – Charles Guggenheim, American director and producer (d. 2002) *1925 – Jean Coutu, Canadian actor and director (d. 1999) *1926 – John Fowles, English novelist (d. 2005) * 1926 – Beni Montresor, Italian director, set designer, author, and illustrator (d. 2001) * 1926 – Rocco Petrone, American colonel and engineer (d. 2006) *1927 – Cesar Chavez, American labor union leader and activist (d. 1993) * 1927 – William Daniels, American actor * 1927 – Eduardo Martínez Somalo, Spanish cardinal * 1927 – Vladimir Ilyushin, Russian pilot (d. 2010) * 1927 – Elmer Diedtrich, American businessman and politician (d. 2013) * 1927 – Bud MacPherson, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1988) *1928 – Lefty Frizzell, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1975) * 1928 – Gordie Howe, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2016) *1929 – Liz Claiborne, Belgian-American fashion designer, founded Liz Claiborne Inc. (d. 2007) * 1929 – Bert Fields, American lawyer and author *1930 – Yehuda Nir, Polish Jewish-American psychiatrist (d. 2014) * 1930 – Jim Mutscheller, American football player and coach (d. 2015) *1931 – Miller Barber, American golfer (d. 2013) * 1931 – Tamara Tyshkevich, Belarusian shot putter (d. 1997) *1932 – John Jakes, American author * 1932 – Nagisa Oshima, Japanese director and screenwriter (d. 2013) *1933 – Anita Carter, American singer-songwriter and bassist (d. 1999) * 1933 – Nichita Stănescu, Romanian poet (d. 1983) *1934 – Richard Chamberlain, American actor * 1934 – Shirley Jones, American actress and singer * 1934 – John D. Loudermilk, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2016) * 1934 – Carlo Rubbia, Italian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate * 1934 – Kamala Surayya, Indian poet and author (d. 2009) *1935 – Herb Alpert, American singer-songwriter, trumpet player, and producer * 1935 – Judith Rossner, Jewish-American author (d. 2005) *1936 – Marge Piercy, American poet and novelist * 1936 – Walter E. Williams, American economist and academic *1938 – Patrick Bateson, English biologist and academic (d. 2017) * 1938 – Sheila Dikshit, Indian politician, 22nd Governor of Kerala * 1938 – Antje Gleichfeld, German runner * 1938 – Bill Hicke, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager (d. 2005) * 1938 – Tõnno Lepmets, Estonian basketball player (d. 2005) * 1938 – Arthur B. Rubinstein, American pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 2018) * 1938 – David Steel, Scottish academic and politician *1939 – Zviad Gamsakhurdia, Georgian anthropologist and politician, 1st President of Georgia (d. 1993) * 1939 – Israel Horovitz, American actor, director, and screenwriter * 1939 – Walker David Miller, American lawyer and judge (d. 2013) * 1939 – Volker Schlöndorff, German director and producer * 1939 – Karl-Heinz Schnellinger, German footballer *1940 – Brian Ackland-Snow, English production designer and art director (d. 2013) * 1940 – Barney Frank, American lawyer and politician * 1940 – Patrick Leahy, American lawyer and politician *1941 – Franco Bonvicini, Italian author and illustrator (d. 1995) * 1941 – Faith Leech, Australian swimmer (d. 2013) *1942 – Ulla Hoffmann, Swedish politician * 1942 – Hugh McCracken, American guitarist and producer (d. 2013) * 1942 – Michael Savage, far-right American radio host and author *1943 – Roy Andersson, Swedish director and screenwriter * 1943 – Deirdre Clancy, English costume designer * 1943 – Christopher Walken, American actor *1944 – Pascal Danel, French singer-songwriter * 1944 – Angus King, American politician * 1944 – Mick Ralphs, English singer-songwriter and guitarist *1945 – Edwin Catmull, American computer scientist and engineer * 1945 – Gabe Kaplan, American actor and comedian * 1945 – Myfanwy Talog, Welsh actress (d. 1995) *1946 – Gonzalo Márquez, Venezuelan baseball player (d. 1984) * 1946 – Bob Russell, English politician *1947 – Augustin Banyaga, Rwandan-American mathematician and academic * 1947 – Wendy Overton, American tennis player * 1947 – Kristian Blak, Danish-Faroese pianist, composer, and producer * 1947 – Don Foster, English academic and politician * 1947 – César Gaviria, Colombian economist and politician, 36th President of Colombia * 1947 – Eliyahu M. Goldratt, Israeli physicist and economist (d. 2011) *1948 – Gary Doer, Canadian politician and diplomat, 20th Premier of Manitoba * 1948 – Al Gore, American soldier and politician, 45th Vice President of the United States and Nobel Prize laureate * 1948 – Rhea Perlman, American actress * 1948 – Gustaaf Van Cauter, Belgian cyclist *1949 – Gilles Gilbert, Canadian ice hockey player *1950 – András Adorján, Hungarian chess player and author * 1950 – Ed Marinaro, American football player and actor * 1950 – Sandra Morgen, American anthropologist and academic (d. 2016) *1953 – Dennis Kamakahi, American guitarist and composer (d. 2014) *1955 – Svetozar Marović, President of Serbia and Montenegro * 1955 – Angus Young, Scottish-Australian guitarist and songwriter *1957 – Alan Duncan, English businessman and politician, former Shadow Leader of the House of Commons *1959 – Markus Hediger, Swiss poet and translator *1961 – Ron Brown, American sprinter and football player * 1961 – Howard Gordon, American screenwriter and producer *1962 – Olli Rehn, Finnish footballer and politician *1963 – Paul Mercurio, Australian actor and dancer *1964 – Mark Hoban, English accountant and politician *1965 – Tom Barrasso, American ice hockey player and coach * 1965 – Patty Fendick, American tennis player and coach * 1965 – Jean-Christophe Lafaille, French mountaineer (d. 2006) * 1965 – William McNamara, American actor and producer * 1965 – Steven T. Seagle, American author and screenwriter *1966 – Roger Black, English runner and journalist * 1966 – Nick Firestone, American race car driver *1968 – César Sampaio, Brazilian footballer *1969 – Nyamko Sabuni, Burundian-Swedish politician * 1969 – Steve Smith, American basketball player and sportscaster *1970 – Alenka Bratušek, Slovenian politician, 7th Prime Minister of Slovenia * 1970 – Samantha Brown, American television host *1971 – Demetris Assiotis, Cypriot footballer * 1971 – Martin Atkinson, English footballer and referee * 1971 – Pavel Bure, Russian ice hockey player * 1971 – Craig McCracken, American animator, producer, and screenwriter * 1971 – Ewan McGregor, Scottish actor *1972 – Alejandro Amenábar, Chilean-Spanish director and screenwriter * 1972 – Andrew Bowen, American actor, producer, and screenwriter * 1972 – Luca Gentili, Italian footballer and coach * 1972 – Evan Williams, American businessman, co-founded Twitter and Pyra Labs *1973 – Christopher Hampson, English ballet dancer and choreographer *1974 – Benjamin Eicher, German director, producer, and screenwriter * 1974 – Natali, Russian singer, composer and songwriter * 1974 – Stefan Olsdal, Swedish bass player * 1974 – Jani Sievinen, Finnish swimmer *1975 – Adam Green, American director, producer, and screenwriter * 1975 – Nathan Grey, Australian rugby player and coach * 1975 – Cameron Murray, Scottish rugby player * 1975 – Ryan Rupe, American baseball player *1976 – Howard Frier, American basketball player * 1976 – Igors Sļesarčuks, Latvian-Russian footballer * 1976 – Graeme Smith, Scottish swimmer *1977 – Toshiya, Japanese bass player, songwriter, and producer * 1977 – Garth Tander, Australian race car driver *1978 – Michael Clark, Australian cricketer and footballer * 1978 – Stephen Clemence, English footballer and coach * 1978 – Jarrod Cooper, American football player * 1978 – Jérôme Rothen, French footballer *1979 – Omri Afek, Israeli footballer * 1979 – Euan Burton, Scottish martial artist and coach * 1979 – Alexis Ferrero, Argentinian footballer * 1979 – Charlie Manning, American baseball player * 1979 – Jonna Mendes, American skier * 1979 – Rhys Wesser, Australian rugby league player *1980 – Martin Albrechtsen, Danish footballer * 1980 – Karolina Lassbo, Swedish lawyer and blogger * 1980 – Matias Concha, Swedish footballer * 1980 – Kate Micucci, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress * 1980 – Michael Ryder, Canadian ice hockey player *1981 – Ryan Bingham, American singer-songwriter and guitarist * 1981 – Thomas Chatelle, Belgian footballer * 1981 – Han Tae-you, South Korean footballer * 1981 – Pa Dembo Touray, Gambian footballer * 1981 – Maarten van der Weijden, Dutch swimmer *1982 – Tal Ben Haim, Israeli footballer * 1982 – Bam Childress, American football player * 1982 – Audrey Kawasaki, American painter *1983 – Hashim Amla, South African cricketer * 1983 – Ashleigh Ball, Canadian voice actress and musician * 1983 – Sophie Hunger, Swiss-German musician * 1983 – Vlasios Maras, Greek gymnast * 1983 – Nigel Plum, Australian rugby league player *1984 – David Clarkson, Canadian ice hockey player * 1984 – James Jones, American football player * 1984 – Martins Dukurs, Latvian sled racer * 1984 – Kaie Kand, Estonian heptathlete * 1984 – Alberto Junior Rodríguez, Peruvian footballer * 1984 – Ed Williamson, English rugby player *1985 – Steve Bernier, Canadian ice hockey player * 1985 – Jo-Lonn Dunbar, American football player * 1985 – Jesper Hansen, Danish footballer * 1985 – Ivan Mishyn, Ukrainian race car driver * 1985 – Kory Sheets, American football player * 1985 – Jalmar Sjöberg, Swedish wrestler *1986 – Andreas Dober, Austrian footballer * 1986 – James King, Scottish rugby player * 1986 – Paulo Machado, Portuguese footballer *1987 – Nordin Amrabat, Dutch footballer * 1987 – Hugo Ayala, Mexican footballer * 1987 – Amaury Bischoff, Portuguese footballer * 1987 – Humpy Koneru, Indian chess player * 1987 – Kirill Starkov, Danish ice hockey player * 1987 – Nelli Zhiganshina, Russian figure skater *1988 – Thomas De Corte, Belgian footballer * 1988 – Conrad Sewell, Australian singer and songwriter * 1988 – Dorin Dickerson, American football player * 1988 – DeAndre Liggins, American basketball player * 1988 – Louis van der Westhuizen, Namibian cricketer *1989 – Alberto Martín Romo García Adámez, Spanish footballer * 1989 – Nejc Vidmar, Slovenian footballer * 1989 – Liu Zige, Chinese swimmer *1990 – George Iloka, American football player * 1990 – Sandra Roma, Swedish tennis player * 1990 – Bang Yong-guk, South Korean rapper *1991 – Milan Milanović, Serbian footballer * 1991 – Rodney Sneijder, Dutch footballer *1992 – Stijn de Looijer, Dutch footballer * 1992 – Beatričė Rožinskaitė, Lithuanian figure skater * 1992 – Adam Zampa, Australian cricketer *1993 – Mikael Ishak, Swedish footballer *1994 – Tyler Wright, Australian surfer * 1994 – Mads Würtz Schmidt, Danish road cyclist *1998 – Jakob Chychrun, American-born Canadian ice hockey player Deaths *32 BC – Titus Pomponius Atticus, Roman nobleman of the Equestrian order (b. 109 BC) * 528 – Xiaoming, emperor of Northern Wei (b. 510) * 963 – Ahmad ibn Muhammad, Saffarid emir (b. 906) *1241 – Pousa, voivode of Transylvania *1251 – William of Modena, Italian bishop and diplomat *1340 – Ivan I of Moscow, Russian Grand Duke (b. 1288) *1342 – Dionigi di Borgo San Sepolcro, Italian Augustinian monk *1462 – Isidore II of Constantinople, patriarch of Constantinople *1491 – Bonaventura Tornielli, Italian Roman Catholic priest (b. 1411) *1547 – Francis I, French king (b. 1494) *1567 – Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse (b. 1504) *1621 – Philip III, Spanish king (b. 1578) *1622 – Gonzalo Méndez de Canço, Royal Governor of La Florida (b. 1554) *1631 – John Donne, English lawyer and poet (b. 1572) *1671 – Anne Hyde, wife of James II of England (b. 1637) *1723 – Edward Hyde, 3rd Earl of Clarendon, English soldier and politician, 14th Colonial Governor of New York (b. 1661) *1741 – Pieter Burman the Elder, Dutch scholar and author (b. 1668) *1751 – Frederick, Prince of Wales, Hanoverian-born heir to the British throne (b. 1707) *1797 – Olaudah Equiano, Nigerian merchant, author, and activist (b.1745) *1837 – John Constable, English painter and educator (b. 1776) *1850 – John C. Calhoun, American lawyer and politician, 7th Vice President of the United States (b. 1782) *1855 – Charlotte Brontë, English novelist and poet (b. 1816) *1877 – Antoine Augustin Cournot, French mathematician and philosopher (b. 1801) *1880 – Henryk Wieniawski, Polish violinist and composer (b. 1835) *1885 – Franz Abt, German composer and conductor (b. 1819) *1907 – Galusha A. Grow, American lawyer and politician, 28th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (b. 1823) *1910 – Jean Moréas, Greek poet, essayist and art critic (b. 1856) *1913 – J. P. Morgan, American banker and financier (b. 1837) *1915 – Wyndham Halswelle, English-Scottish runner and captain (b. 1882) *1917 – Emil von Behring, German physiologist and immunologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1854) *1924 – George Charles Haité, English painter and illustrator (b. 1855) *1927 – Kang Youwei, Chinese scholar and political reformer (b. 1858) *1930 – Ludwig Schüler, German politician, Mayor of Marburg (b. 1836) *1931 – Knute Rockne, American football player and coach (b. 1888) *1935 – Georges V. Matchabelli, Georgian-American businessman and diplomat, founded Prince Matchabelli perfume (b. 1885) *1939 – Ioannis Tsangaridis, Greek general (b. 1887) *1944 – Mineichi Koga, Japanese admiral (b. 1885) *1945 – Frank Findlay, New Zealand banker and politician (b. 1884) * 1945 – Hans Fischer, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1881) *1950 – Robert Natus, Estonian architect (b. 1890) *1952 – Wallace H. White, Jr., American lawyer and politician (b. 1877) *1956 – Ralph DePalma, Italian-American race car driver and actor (b. 1884) *1968 – Grover Lowdermilk, American baseball player (b. 1885) *1970 – Semyon Timoshenko, Soviet Commander during the Winter War and the Eastern Front of World War II (b. 1894) *1975 – Percy Alliss, English golfer (b. 1897) *1976 – Paul Strand, American photographer and director (b. 1890) *1978 – Astrid Allwyn, American actress (b. 1905) *1978 – Charles Herbert Best, American-Canadian physiologist and biochemist, co-discovered Insulin (b. 1899) *1980 – Vladimír Holan, Czech poet and author (b. 1905) * 1980 – Jesse Owens, American sprinter and long jumper (b. 1913) *1981 – Enid Bagnold, English author and playwright (b. 1889) *1983 – Christina Stead, Australian author and academic (b. 1902) *1986 – Jerry Paris, American actor and director (b. 1925) *1988 – William McMahon, Australian lawyer and politician, 20th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1908) *1993 – Brandon Lee, American actor and martial artist (b. 1965) * 1993 – Mitchell Parish, Lithuanian-American songwriter (b. 1900) *1995 – Selena, American singer-songwriter (b. 1971) *1996 – Dante Giacosa, Italian automobile designer and engineer (b. 1905) * 1996 – Jeffrey Lee Pierce, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1958) *1998 – Bella Abzug, American lawyer, activist, and politician (b. 1920) * 1998 – Tim Flock, American race car driver (b. 1924) * 1998 – Joel Ryce-Menuhin, American pianist (b. 1933) *1999 – Yuri Knorozov, Russian linguist and ethnographer (b. 1922) *2001 – David Rocastle, English footballer (b. 1967) * 2001 – Clifford Shull, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1915) *2002 – Barry Took, English comedian, actor, and screenwriter (b. 1928) * 2002 – Moturu Udayam, Indian activist and politician (b. 1924) *2003 – Harold Scott MacDonald Coxeter, English-Canadian mathematician and academic (b. 1907) * 2003 – Anne Gwynne, American actress (b. 1918) * 2003 – Tommy Seebach, Danish singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer (b. 1949) *2004 – Scott Helvenston, American soldier (b. 1965) *2005 – Stanley J. Korsmeyer, American oncologist and academic (b. 1951) * 2005 – Justiniano Montano, Filipino lawyer and politician (b. 1905) * 2005 – Frank Perdue, American businessman (b. 1920) *2006 – Jackie McLean, American saxophonist and composer (b. 1931) *2007 – Paul Watzlawick, Austrian-American psychologist and philosopher (b. 1921) *2008 – Jules Dassin, American director, producer, screenwriter, and actor (b. 1911) * 2008 – Bill Keightley, American equipment manager (b. 1926) *2009 – Raúl Alfonsín, Argentinian lawyer and politician, 46th President of Argentina (b. 1927) * 2009 – Choor Singh, Indian-Singaporean lawyer and judge (b. 1911) *2011 – Gil Clancy, American boxer and trainer (b. 1922) * 2011 – Alan Fitzgerald, Australian journalist and author (b. 1935) * 2011 – Mary Greyeyes, the first First Nations woman to join the Canadian Armed Forces (b. 1920) * 2011 – Oddvar Hansen, Norwegian footballer and coach (b. 1921) * 2011 – Ishbel MacAskill, Scottish singer and actress (b. 1941) * 2011 – Henry Taub, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1927) *2012 – Judith Adams, New Zealand-Australian nurse and politician (b. 1943) * 2012 – Dale R. Corson, American physicist and academic (b. 1914) * 2012 – Bernard O. Gruenke, American stained glass artist (b. 1914) * 2012 – Jerry Lynch, American baseball player (b. 1930) * 2012 – Alberto Sughi, Italian painter (b. 1928) * 2012 – Halbert White, American economist and academic (b. 1950) *2013 – Charles Amarin Brand, French archbishop (b. 1920) * 2013 – Ernie Bridge, Australian singer and politician (b. 1936) * 2013 – Bob Clarke, American illustrator (b. 1926) * 2013 – Ahmad Sayyed Javadi, Iranian lawyer and politician, Iranian Minister of Interior (b. 1917) * 2013 – Dmitri Uchaykin, Russian ice hockey player (b. 1980) *2014 – Gonzalo Anes, Spanish economist, historian, and academic (b. 1931) * 2014 – Roger Somville, Belgian painter (b. 1923) *2015 – Betty Churcher, Australian painter, historian, and curator (b. 1931) * 2015 – Cocoa Fujiwara, Japanese author and illustrator (b. 1983) * 2015 – Carlos Gaviria Díaz, Colombian lawyer and politician (b. 1937) * 2015 – Dalibor Vesely, Czech-English historian, author, and academic (b. 1934) *2016 – Ronnie Corbett, Scottish comedian, actor and screenwriter (b. 1930) * 2016 – Hans-Dietrich Genscher, German politician (b. 1927) * 2016 – Zaha Hadid, Iraqi-born English architect and academic, designed the Bridge Pavilion (b. 1950) * 2016 – Imre Kertész, Hungarian author, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1929) * 2016 – Denise Robertson, British writer and television broadcaster (b. 1932) *2017 – Gilbert Baker, American artist and LGBT rights activist (b. 1951) * 2017 – James Rosenquist, American artist (b. 1933) *2019 – Nipsey Hussle, American rapper (b. 1985)Rapper Nipsey Hussle killed in shooting outside his L.A. store Holidays and observances * Cesar Chavez Day (United States) * Christian feast day ** Abdas of Susa ** Acathius of Melitene (Eastern Orthodox Church) ** Anesius and companions ** Benjamin ** Balbina ** John Donne (Anglican Communion, Lutheran) ** March 31 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) * Day of Genocide of Azerbaijanis (Azerbaijan) * Freedom Day (Malta) * International Transgender Day of Visibility * King Nangklao Memorial Day (Thailand) * Thomas Mundy Peterson Day (New Jersey, United States) * Transfer Day (US Virgin Islands) * World Backup Day References External links * BBC: On This Day * * Today in Canadian History Category:Days of the year Category:March